Okay yeah, I definitely really like this show. This episode mainly revolved around Subaru buying food and picking a name for Haru (spoiler: he picked Haru), which was a very sweet plotline, and I loved the actual name-picking scene. I was completely touched by the effort that Subaru was putting into choosing a name that his cat was happy with and I thought it was a really special moment when she finally responded to Haru: a name with significance for both of them. And then it turns out she thinks “Haru” means “food”. That’s another thing I like about the split perspective: sometimes you think you’ve witnessed something really meaningful between these two damaged souls, and then you get Haru’s angle and it becomes hilarious instead.
They really went out of its way to hit all the cat tropes with Haru this time, too: she’s resting on a keyboard, she’s wriggling into boxes, she’s knocking shit around, she’s getting her head stuck in things. She’s doing all of the cat stuff, and she’s doing it brilliantly. 10/10, never stop catting. And she’s still killing it on the facial expression front too.
I really enjoyed Subaru’s brave excursion into the outside world for cat food. With this, it’s official: Subaru is my most relatable character of the season. His reluctance to leave his house and wildly disproportionate reactions to mild social embarrassment speak to me on a deeply spiritual level. Also pet shop girl is a delight and I can’t wait to see more of her.
I think they’re doing a great job with the pacing of Subaru’s personal growth thus far; you can see him gradually opening up already thanks to Haru, but the changes are small enough that they don’t feel unnatural or improbable. He’s still a grumpy shut-in, but whether he likes it or not he is starting to pay attention to the people around him and how they interact, and so his world slowly opens up. His reluctance to give Haru a name was an interesting plot point for me; Subaru is so out of touch with civilisation that the thought of giving his furry new roommate a name hasn’t even occurred to him, and once it does, he can’t rationalise in his mind until he frames it in the guise of giving his novel’s cat character a name. The idea of getting close to any living thing seems to absolutely terrify him, but he’s clearly willing to take the first steps with Haru, even if he hasn’t admitted it to himself just yet. Hooray for ~personal growth~.
Subaru’s apparent allergy to most sentient creatures makes me wonder even more about how Hiroto got and stayed so close (I mean, semi-against Subaru’s will by the looks of how things are at the moment, but it’s still an achievement), and I’m looking forward to seeing that getting explored. He wasn’t really in this episode much, but I enjoyed his brief appearance. He has a sausage in his mouth for most of his appearance again, like last episode. Is that going to be his thing or is he just on a sausage kick at the moment? It’s kind of a weird gimmick to have. But hey, he’s a good boy, he’s likeable, he can eat whatever snacks he wants.
To be honest, I can’t think of a bad thing to say about this episode. I think it struck a perfect balance between Emotional Content and comedy from both characters’ perspectives, and I’m excited to see both Haru and Subaru progressing as the show goes on!